Eire-escape



1. A. MYERS.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION man APR. 13. 1916.

1,195,069. Patented Aug. 15,1916.

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JOHN A. MYERS, F GREELEY, COLORADO.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 13, 1916. Serial No. 90,88

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. MYEns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greeley, in the county of iV-eld and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fire escapes and it has for its object the provision of a simple, inexpensive and very light article of such a nature that it may be readily carried by travelers and will afford efiicient means to enable a person cut off by fire from the usual means of exit, to readily and safely escape from a burning building.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which now follows.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section of a tire escape constructed in accordance with the invention; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view upon line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in both of the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the invention comprises a tubular body made of a piece of pipe slightly flattened to produce a body 5 that is somewhat oval in cross section. The upper and lower ends of this body are provided with flared or hell ends 6 and 7. The body is split at one side for a part of its length and its walls at said split portion are so formed that they lie in parallelism with each other, these opposed parallel, straight walls being indicated at 8 and 9. Opposite the split portion the wall of the body 5 is outwardly bowed at 10. A clamp 11 is shaped to embrace the body 5 and carries a ring 12, which ring constitutes a body supporting element and this ring may be attached to any suitable body engaging harness or belt for the purpose of supporting the wearer from the body 5, it being understood that this body slides upon a cable 13 of suitable length. To provide a friction gripping device by which the rate of descent of the body 5 and consequently of the user may be effectively regulated, a lever 14 is pivoted upon a belt 15, this bolt serving the double function of securing the clamp 11 to the body 5 and of pivotally mounting the lever with relation to said clamp. The lever 14: comprises at its free end a handle 18 and between the handle 16 and pivot there is disposed a goose neck portion 17 which goose neck portion is more or less resilient and serves the double purpose of shaping the lever to project into the body 5 to engage the cable and of rendering the gripping element formed by lever 14: a more or less yieldable one.

The end of the lever 1-i opposite the handle 16 is extended beyond the pivot 15 to form a stop 18 which abuts against the body and limits the movement of the goos neck 17 out of the body This prevents the handle from ever swinging to an inoperative position and keeps the parts always in assembled relation. By referring to Fig. it will be seen that the goose neck is of such dimensions or thickness as to fill the space between the parallel walls 8 and 9, and con sequently, the possibility of the cable janming between the sides of the lever and the body 5 is effectually guarded against. This is important because otherwise it might result in leaving a person suspended partway to the ground where escape from the flames would be impossible.

Devices of this general character have heretofore been used and it is believed that the method of use of the apparatus will be readily understood. However, it may be briefly stated that there is used in conjunction with this device a rope or cable 13 of su'thcient length to reach from the top of a building to the ground. The end of this rope or cable being secured to some part of the building or to some heavy piece of furniture within a room, the user may, by supporting himself or herself from the ring 12 in any desired manner, gently lower himself or herself to the ground by grasping with the left hand the upper part of the body 5 and with the right hand the lower portion of the body 5 and the handle 16 and pressing these two parts together. This forces the goose neck against the cable and binds said cable in the ofi-set formed by the bowed portion 10 of the body 5.

It is to be noted that the gripping action will be a more or less yieldable one because of the provision of the goose neck. if the lever 1% were a rigid one there would be a possibility of the cable being alternately gripped and slackened and the descent would be by jerks, but the yielding goose neck prevents this and permits the user to glide to the ground.

The device herein shown and described is so simple and inexpensive that it will be possible for hotels to equip every room with one or more of these devices at a very small cost and persons traveling will be enabled to carry without ditliculty, means of escape in case they are trapped by fire in strange quarters.

it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but that it includes within its purview such changes as fairly come within the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A device of the character described, coinpris'ng a body portion, a cable passing therethrough and a lever pivotally supported upon said body portion and having formed in its length a resilient goose neck portion which bears against said cable.

A device of the character described, comprising a tubular body portion which is oval in cross section, a cable passing therethrough, a lever pivot-ally supported upon said body and having a resilient goose neck portion intermediate its length which is arranged to press upon said cable.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a tubular body portion, a lever pivot-ally supported thereupon, said lever having a resilient goose neck intermediate its length and said body portion having an off-set opposite said lever, said goose neck being arranged to grip a cable between itself and said off-set portion of. the body.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a tubular body portion, a clamp, a oody supporting member carried by said clamp, a lover, a bolt passing through said clamp and through said lever and serving to secure the clamp to the body portion and to pivot the lever, said lever ha *ing a portion arranged to project into said body portion to bind a cable between itself and said body portion, said lever comprising a part extending beyond said bolt which constitutes a stop to limit the swinging movement of said lever away from said body.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a tubular body portion having its ends flared, a body supporting element supported from said body portion, said. body portion being open at one side and having opposed parallel walls at said open portion and a lever pivoted with relation to said body portion and having a resilient goose neck extension projecting into said body portion and being of such dimensions as to fill the space between said walls.

6. A device of the character described comprising an elongated tubular body por tion having its ends flared, said body portion being shaped to form an outwardly bowed extension at one side, a gripping lever and a cable passing through said body portion between said gripping lever and the outwardly bowed portion, a support for the lever, means for clamping said support about the body portion and for pivoting said lever to said support, said lever comprising an end which is pivoted as aforesaid to the support, a resilient goose-neck which enters the body portion and a convex face of which bears against said cable to yielding'ly press said cable into the bowed :;tension of the body portion and an elongated handle extending from said gooseneck and lying along said body portion in such position that the handle and body portion may be gripped in the hand and pressed together.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J OHN A. MYERS. Witnesses Annna'r LAWRENCE, BENJAMIN F. lVooDRUrr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner or Eatents Washington, D. G. 

